| André Anders | |
| Birth Date: | 1961 6, df=yes |
| Birth Place: | Ballenstedt, East Germany |
| Nationality: | German; 2002 naturalized American |
| Fields: | Plasma Physics Materials science |
| Workplaces: | Central Institute of Electron Physics, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Leipzig University, Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering (IOM) |
| Alma Mater: | University of Wrocław, Moscow State University, Humboldt University, (Dr. rer. nat. 1987) |
| Known For: | cathodic (vacuum) arcs, high-power impulse magnetron sputtering, thin films |
André Anders (born 1961) is a German-American experimental plasma physicist and materials scientist. He has been the director of the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering in Leipzig, Germany, since 2017. Previously, 1992-2017, he worked at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California. He is best known for his work on metal plasmas and thin film deposition by cathodic arcs and high power impulse magnetron sputtering. He was the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Applied Physics (2014-2024) published by AIP Publishing.
He was born in June 1961 in Ballenstedt, German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Early on he became interested in physics, astronomy, electrical engineering but also in music and history. In 7th grade he built a refracting telescope. In 1980, he studied Physics at the University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland, but only until the summer of 1981 because Martial Law was imposed in Poland (1981-1983). He continued his studies at Humboldt-University Berlin, East Germany, in the field of pulsed barrier discharges to obtain his “Diplom-Physiker” degree (1984). While being enrolled at Humboldt University, he was also admitted as a grad student to study plasma physics at the Lomonosov Moskau State University (1984-1986) in Moscow, Soviet Union. He obtained his PhD degree (Dr. rer. nat.) on pulsed atmospheric plasma jests from Humboldt-University, Berlin, in 1987.
His first position was with the Central Institute of Electron Physics of the Academy of Sciences in (East) Berlin, starting in 1987. After just some months of work, he was drafted to serve as a truck driver in the National People’s Army of East Germany. While serving, he used his limited free time to compile his “Formulary for Plasma Physics”, published by Akademie-Verlag in 1990. After the return to the Academy, he worked on improving the lifetime of electrodes in high pressure sodium arc lamps[1] and developed a laser-based technique to study cathode spots with nanosecond resolution.[2]
As Staff Scientist and since 2001 Group Leader, he worked in various fields of ion beam and plasma applications, including plasma immersion ion implantation and deposition[3] and plasma diagnostics of vacuum arcs.[4] His text book on cathodic arcs[5] and his generalized structure zone diagram[6] are highly cited. His work on ultrathin diamond-like carbon films in the development of hard disk drives with storage exceeding 1 GB/in2 was recognized with an R&D100 Award in 2009. For more than a decade, he studied the plasma of HiPIMS (high power magnetron sputtering), especially the role of ionization zones[7] (“spokes”), self-sputtering[8] and gas recycling.[9]
In 2017, he assumed a joint appointment as full professor of applied physics at the Felix Bloch Institute of Solid State Physics at Leipzig University and director and CEO (“Vorstand”) of the Leibniz Institute of Surface Engineering, both in Leipzig, Germany.
Anders was the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Applied Physics (2014-2024). Previously was an Associate Editor of that journal (2009-2014) and served on the editorial boards of Applied Physis Letters and the journal Surface and Coatings Technology.
He is an author on over 350 publications, which have been cited more than 23,000 times by other scholars.[10]
In 1997, he married Christine Kurata, who works in the software industry. They have two children, Mieko and George. He has also a son, Mark, from a previous marriage.